My Enemy's Enemy (2007, documentary) - Dark annals of the 20th century explored in great Macdonald work

♥♥♥♥♥

 

A creepy B/W still of the villainous subject below a manipulated version of the American flag with swastikas mixed in with the stars make up this poster for Kevin Macdonald's My Enemy's Enemy

Klaus Barbie during World War II became known as the 'Butcher of Lyon' due to his extensive torture and execution crimes against Jews and others in his path, including countless children. But after the war he was not persecuted - but instead hired by the CIA.

 

My Enemy's Enemy is a terrific historical/biographical/war documentary by great Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (Chaplin's Goliath (1996)).

It is a deeply upsetting and disgusting story, which shows how the logic of tyranny and sadism function far into the ranks of the West, - along with clandestine veneration for Nazism and fascism. In order to combat Communism, the Americans hired a Nazi war criminal, who for decades since then continued using his violent skills, especially in South America, mostly in Bolivia, - to further damages for the people there.

The span of sources and material is deeply impressive, and Macdonald lets diverging points of view assert themselves without inserting himself personally in this gloomy, worrying, - and fascinating piece of  20th century history.

 

Related post:

 

Kevin Macdonald: Marley (2012, documentary) - Macdonald's great work of the truly inspirational musician

The Last King of Scotland (2006) - Macdonald's Idi Amin thriller debut is an electric accomplishment

 

In this video, Macdonald talks about his most current movie, Life in a Day (2021)

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 198k $

= Uncertain

[My Enemy's Enemy premiered 31 August (Telluride Film Festival, USA) and runs 87 minutes. The film only had a film festival screening in North America. Its 3 biggest markets were France with 175k $ (88.4 %), Belgium with 11k $ (5.6%) and Taiwan with 3k $ (1.5 %). Macdonald returned with State of Play (2009). 619 IMDb users have given My Enemy's Enemy a 7.4/10 average rating.]

What do you think of My Enemy's Enemy?

The Bourne Identity (2002) - Terrific action in Liman & Co.'s spy adaptation

♥♥♥

Star Matt Damon runs in a black outfit with a gun aim on his chest on this poster for Doug Liman's The Bourne Identity

A man gets rescued out of the Mediterranean Sea. He has no memory of who he is, but his unusual skills and clues lead him on track to uncover his identity as a clandestine weapon of the CIA.

The Bourne Identity is written by Tony Gilroy (State of Play (2009)) and W. Blake Herron (Skin Art (1993)), adapting Robert Ludlum's (The Gemini Contenders (1976)) same-titled 1980 novel, and directed by Doug Liman (Getting In (1994)).
Matt Damon (The Martian (2015)) is intense and motivated in this first entry of the successful Bourne franchise, which is especially interesting for its well-shot action scenes; especially an excellent car chase and some good fight scenes: The fight scene in the apartment, which the girl involved Marie (Franka Potente (Romulus My Father (2007))) witnesses, must be among the decade's best.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's (Delta of Venus (1995)) is fierce as the film's repugnant, African leader heavy, while the other stars involved don't make real impressions, and the plot never becomes very concrete or suspenseful. Another reservation against The Bourne Identity: The maybe gypsy Marie is a vague character, who almost doesn't protest at all to be suddenly hijacked onto Bourne's deadly quest.

Related posts:

Bourne franchise: The Bourne Legacy (2012) or, Bourne 4: Hokum
Doug Liman: Fair Game (2010) or, The Intelligence War

Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: 214 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 3.56 times its cost)
[The Bourne Identity premiered 6 June (Los Angeles) and runs 119 minutes. Liman was a long-time fan of the novel and spent years getting it to the screen. Brad Pitt, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Russell Crowe were approached to star, before Damon was cast. Shooting took place in Greece, Spain, Italy, including Rome, Prague, Czech Republic, Paris, France and in Switzerland from October 2000 - ?. The shoot ran long, with reshoots and contentment between Liman and the studio executives, and reportedly ran 8 mil. $ over budget. - Though the final budget listed curiously still is the pre-production agreed upon 60 mil. $. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Scooby-Doo, to a 27.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#4-#5) and grossed 121.6 mil. $ (56.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 13.1 mil. $ (6.1 %) and the UK with 12.3 mil. $ (5.7 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Bourne returned in The Bourne Supremacy (2004), and the franchise went on with 3 more sequels to date. Liman returned with Indie Is Great (2002, short), The O.C. (2003, TV-series) and theatrically with Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Damon returned in The Bernie Mack Show (2002, TV-series) and theatrically in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002). The Bourne Identity is certified fresh at 83 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Bourne Identity?

The Good Shepherd (2006) - De Niro's CIA drama excels

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Period Movie of the Year 

A piece of Matt Damon's bespectacled profile superimposed with the insignia of the CIA are the main visual elements on this sparse, seriousness-indicating poster for Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd

Wilson aka. 'Mother' becomes the newly begun Central Intelligence Agency's eminence during WWII, but following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba in 1961, Wilson is confronted with his late father and his own worst sides.

The Good Shepherd is written by Eric Roth (The Horse Whisperer (1998)) and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Robert De Niro (A Bronx Tale (1993)), who here takes up extensive duties as co-producer, director and co-star.
The film is a unique tale of the US and USSR intelligence agencies, as the Cold War got underway, and their mutual dependence, built around a human drama. That drama doesn't throw around grand gestures, but it comes with an eerie finale, SPOILER as Wilson gets his son's fiancée thrown off a plane.
Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity (2002)) gives one of his career's best performances as an understandably dumb bastard (Wilson), and the rest of the fine cast are also impressive. Ann Roth's (Hope Springs (2012)) costumes are very well done, and some of writer Roth's lines spouted by Damon's cowboy-like spy come off with sparks.

Related posts:

Robert De Niro: The Irishman (I Heard You Paint Houses) (2019, VOD) - Scorsese's great gangster epic of growing old and death (co-star)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - Tender moments, great De Niro in uneven romantic dramedy (co-star)

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
15 Minutes (2001) or, Bad Cynics in New York City (co-star) 
Cop Land (1997) - Stallone faces corruption and turns in some good acting in fine crime drama (co-star) 
Casino (1995) - Scorsese's sumptuous Vegas gangster tale has the wingspan of a Greek tragedy (co-star)
Cape Fear (1991) - Scorsese adds lots of stuff to remake but loses the balance (co-star)
Backdraft (1991) - Ron Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie (co-star)
Angel Heart (1987) - Parker's stylish devil-lurking holds limited punch (co-star)
The Deer Hunter (1978) - Cimino's great, colossal Vietnam epic (star)

Watch a German language version trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly around 90 mil. $
Box office: 100.2 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.11 times its cost)
[The Good Shepherd premiered 11 December (New York) and runs 167 minutes. The project was begun in 1994 for Francis Ford Coppola. Other talents who were near it include Wayne Wang, Philip Kaufman, John Frankenheimer, Graham King and Leonardo DiCaprio. The 110 mil. $ budget was cut down to "under 90", necessitating Damon and other stars waive their usually higher salaries. Still Angelina Jolie (Salt (2010)) was reportedly paid a hefty 8 mil. $ for her performance. De Niro traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia to Moscow as research, as well as studied CIA history. Shooting took place in the Dominican Republic, London, England, New York, Connecticut and Washington DC from August 2005 - January 2006. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release Night at the Museum, holdover hit The Pursuit of Happiness and new release Rocky Balboa, to a 9.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weeks in the top 5 (#4-#5-#5) and grossed 59.9 mil. $ (59.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 5 mil. $ (5 %) and Italy with 4.1 mil. $ (4.1 %). The film was nominated for the Best Art Direction Oscar, lost to Pan's Labyrinth. It won the Silver Bear prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. It was lambasted by CIA historians for its veracity. De Niro expressed ideas to make two sequels to the film; since 2012 a TV-series spin-off has been brewing at Showtime, with De Niro in talks to direct the pilot. De Niro has not returned as a director since but returned as an actor in Stardust (2007). Damon returned in Ocean's Thirteen (2007); Jolie in A Mighty Heart (2007). The Good Shepherd is rotten at 55 % with a 6.14/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Good Shepherd?

The Recruit (2003) - Farrell and other factors buoy Donaldson's uninspired CIA thriller

♥♥♥

Al Pacino and Colin Farrell look mysterious in black in a cold hallway on this dark poster for Roger Donaldson's The Recruit

James Clayton is a young man who gets recruited by the CIA; he is trained at their facility 'the Farm' and his recruiter enlists him to look for a mole there.

The Recruit is written by Roger Towne (The Natural (1984)), Kurt Wimmer (The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)) and Mitch Glazer (A Very Murray Christmas (2015, TV special)) and directed by Australian master filmmaker Roger Donaldson (Sleeping Dogs (1977)), whose 14th feature it is.
SPOILER Al Pacino (Bobby Deerfield (1977)) stars as the fairly predictable wolf in sheep's clothing, giving a routine performance that frankly feels a bit burnt out.
The Recruit gambles on a monotonous ploy of 'dynamic' photography, (nearly no shot is horizontally balanced), and dialog that seems like taglines; everything is a test, and so on and so forth.
What works in the film still are its interrogation scenes, a car chase and Colin Farrell (Fright Night (2011)), who is very watchable as the young recruit. The film is fast forgotten.

Related posts:

Roger Donaldson: 2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Thirteen Days (2000) - Electrifying Cuban Missile Crisis thriller 
Cocktail (1988) - Cruise an iconic stand-out in Donaldson's masterful drama

Pacino and Farrell dine at a crab restaurant in this clip from the film

Cost: 46 mil. $
Box office: 101.1 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.19 times its cost)
[The Recruit premiered 25 January (Febio Film Festival, the Czech Republic) and runs 115 minutes. Shooting took place in Virginia, Washington DC, and in Ontario, including Toronto, from December 2001 - March 2002. The film opened #1 to a 16.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#4) and grossed 52.8 mil. $ (52.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7 mil. $ (6.9 %) and Spain with 4.3 mil. $ (4.3 %). Due to its big stars and spy pedigree, the film likely turned profitable with home video sales and TV sales later on. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. CIA employees reviewed the film in 2009, finding it 'entertaining' but 'ridiculous'. Donaldson returned with The World's Fastest Indian (2005). Pacino returned in Gigli (2003); Farrell in Daredevil (2003). The Recruit is rotten at 43 % with a 5.55/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Recruit?

Body of Lies (2008) - R. Scott's terror actioner is a fatiguing turkey

♥

+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year

Two major stars are the sole attraction on this sombre poster for Ridley Scott's Body of Lies

CIA agent Roger Ferris works to end a new Islamic terror group in the Middle East with the help of a big shot within the agency from back in the States.

Body of Lies is written by William Monahan (The Departed (2006)), based on the same-titled 2007 novel by David Ignatius (The Quantum Spy (2017)), and is the 18th film directed by English master filmmaker Ridley Scott (White Squalls (1996)).
The film starts out exciting enough with a dark dramatization of Islamic terrorism, although the group shown in the film may seem antiquated in our post-ISIS world.
But the problems for action-packed Body of Lies arrive soon after this introduction: Without scratching the surface of who the people in the foreign land who become evil terrorists are, the film relies primarily on floating as a tense star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond (2006)) as field agent Ferris and Russell Crowe (Proof (1991)) as his cynical phone-line boss. But DiCaprio turns in a shallow performance as a frustrated pottymouth, who succumbs to a local nurse in a romance that we only get very little of in the otherwise very long and tedious action-thriller. And Crowe portrays another superficially drawn character; a preoccupied, headset-wearing father.
If we learn anything at all from watching Body of Lies, it is that the results are muddled, when one attempts to engage against evil in the Middle East. - So if you are tired of cacophonous news from the region from the everyday news, this film feels as anything but entertainment. I count it among the turkeys of Ridley Scott.

Ridley Scott:  Prometheus (2012) or, Even Then, Space Eggs Were Bad News
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Robin Hood (2010) - R. Scott's grand film of the English legend 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2008 in films - according to Film Excess 

American Gangster (2007) - Great American - now black - gangster picture
A Good Year (2006) - Ridley Scott likes Provence

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Blade Runner (1982) director's cut - Visual extravaganza, great SF 
Alien (1979) or, Space Eggs Are Bad News 

DiCaprio talks about his work on the film here

Cost: 67.5-70 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 115.9 $
= Big flop (1.65-1.71 times the cost)
[Body of Lies premiered 5 October (New York) and runs 128 minutes. Shooting took place in Morocco, including Rabat, Amman, Jordan, in Maryland, including Baltimore, Virginia and Washington DC from September - December 2007. Shooting in Dubai was refused permission for political reasons. Crowe reportedly gained 63 pounds for his performance, - which seems a highly dubious 'fact'. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Beverly Hills Chihuahua and fellow new release Quarantine, to a disappointing 12.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell out of the top 5 in its second week and grossed a measly 39.3 mil. $ (33.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 9.6 mil. $ (8.3 %) and Spain with 7.5 mil. $ (6.5 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a a 3/4 star review, translating to three notches better than this one. The film made in excess of 23 mil. $ in domestic home video sales, which might change its status to merely 'flop' if added in, (and the lowest 67.5 mil. cost is taken to be the accurate number). Scott returned with Robin Hood (2010), again starring Crowe, a much bigger flop. Crowe returned in Tenderness (2009), and DiCaprio in Sam Mendes' masterpiece Revolutionary Road (2008). Body of Lies is rotten at 55 % with a 5.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Body of Lies?

The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck!

♥♥♥

A mysterious, stressful poster for Brian De Palma's The Fury, which hints at the telepathic powers involved in the plot

Kirk Douglas (A Lovely Way to Die (1968)) plays a father, whose son is kidnapped by a secret governmental department inside the CIA, who want him for his telepathic abilities. With the help of a young woman with a similar talent, Douglas searches for his son.

The Fury is written by John Farris (Dear Dead Delilah (1972)), based on his own same-titled 1976 novel, and directed by great New Jerseyite filmmaker Brian De Palma (Hi, Mom! (1970)), whose 11th feature it is. It is an odd b-film, reminiscent of the better films Carrie (1976), - also by De Palma, - and David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981).
The story wallows in pseudo-science and is weak. John Cassavetes (Machine Gun McCain (1969)) plays a part in The Fury, SPOILER and when he literally explodes in sensational details in the ending, the film attains its tentative third ♥ in my assessment. But The Fury is surely no-one's finest hour.

Related posts:

Brian De Palma: Carlito's Way (1993) - De Palma's best gangster movie
Carrie (1976) or, Don't Bully the Strange Girl! 

Watch a short TV teaser for the film here

Cost: 5.5 -7.5 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: Reportedly 24 mil. $
= Box office success - maybe even a big hit (cost returned 3.2 - 4.3 times)
[The Fury was released 10 March (USA) and runs 118 minutes. De Palma cast Douglas, a major star, because he had felt that his previous telekinesis movie Carrie had suffered at the box office for missing a major star. Shooting took place in Israel and in Los Angeles, California and in Illinois, including Chicago, from July - August 1977. The hotel scene was shot in Chicago's Plymouth Hotel, which would also be used in John Landis' masterpiece The Blues Brothers (1980). Later stars Dennis Franz and Daryl Hannah make their movie debuts in The Fury, and Jim Belushi is an extra. SPOILER The first take of Cassavetes' body exploding wasn't successful, and it took nearly a week to prepare a second take. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. De Palma returned with Home Movies (1979), again with Douglas, who returned before that in The Villain (1979). Cassavetes returned in Brass Target (1978). The Fury is fresh at 80 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fury?

Knight and Day (2010) - Diaz and Cruise invigorate Mangold's action romance

♥♥♥

Stars Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise in what looks like a very uncomfortable shooting position on a poster for James Mangold's Knight and Day

A sexy mechanic babe falls for a resourceful charmer on board an airplane, but he turns out to be a rogue CIA agent, who wants to protect a newly created super battery, - and its inventor, - from some shady villains!

Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher (2012)) plays a classic Cruise hero here, who can simply do just about anything, and Cameron Diaz (The Invisible Circus (2001)) is charming and sympathetic in the other lead. Knight and Day lives on their charisma and good chemistry, coupled here for their second time, (the first one being in Vanilla Sky (2001)). Great New Yorker director James Mangold (Cop Land (1997)) creates a slick and neatly photographed (by Phedon Papamichael (The Descendants (2011))) film that holds no surprises and doesn't transcend being a pretty pedestrian time-passer. It feels like a vanity project and it is truly a trifle, looked at from any angle, but it is still a well-driving vehicle with two lovely stars. - And one spectacular car and motorbike chase through the bull run in Sevilla, Spain!
Knight and Day jumps from country to country seemingly only motivated by the fact that it adds spice to the production. The much better version of the film it tries to be would be something like True Lies (1994). The script reportedly went through a staggering 12 writers' machines, but it is Patrick O'Neill (Sun Gods (2002), TV movie) who is credited for it.

Related review:

James Mangold: Cop Land (1997) - Stallone faces corruption and turns in some good acting in fine crime drama

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 125 mil. $
Box office: 261.9 mil. $
= Flop
[Knight and Day premiered June 16 (Sevilla) and runs 110 minutes. Many stars were in talks to star in the film before Cruise and Diaz were cast. Cruise took a pay cut, only receiving 11 mil. $ for his performance and no "first dollar gross", meaning he might not have made more on it than the 11 mil. Diaz's paycheck is undisclosed. Filming took place in Massachusetts, Jamaica, Illinois, New York, California, Spain (Sevilla and Cadiz) and Austria (Salzburg) from September - December 2009. The release attracted little interest: It opened #3 to a 20.1 mil. $, behind hold-over hit Toy Story 3 and the new comedy release Grown Ups, in North America, where it grossed 76.4 mil. $ (29.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 28.2 mil. $ (10.8 %) and France with 14.3 mil. $ (5.5 %). The film is said to be Cruise's lowest attended action movie opening since Legend (1986). It received many bad reviews, but Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars, a notch better than the review here. Knight and Day is rotten at 52 % with a 5.6 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Knight and Day?

Fair Game (2010) or, The Intelligence War

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Political Movie of the Year

Naomi Watts and Sean Penn wind up in a CIA-mess in Doug Liman's Fair Game

Valerie Plame is a skilled CIA-agent and mother of two, whose husband gets sent to Africa to investigate a possible, suspicious uranium deal involving Iraq. After the US war on Iraq is commenced and he shares his find with the rest of the world, the family find themselves in a hellish situation.

Fair Game tells the very interesting story of the rickety foundation for the Iraq War and the brutal handling of the intelligence operatives who bravely made us all aware of this. It is well-made and has Naomi Watts (Ellie Parker (2005)) and Sean Penn (Bad Boys (1983)) both well-playing in the leads along with a line of lovely supporting cast faces.
Unfortunately the title of the film and the casting of the two outspokenly liberal stars, - of whom Penn will be especially divisive when he approaches the sanctimonious, as his character does a couple of times here, - will undoubtedly make a segment of right-leaning audiences skip the film. That is a shame and it weighs down the rating a wee bit.
Fair Game is written by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow (2014), both), based on Plame's memoir Fair Game (2007) and her husband Joseph C. Wilson's memoir The Politics of Truth (2004), and directed by Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)).

Related posts:

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a few excerpts from the film here

Cost: 22 mil. $
Box office: 24.1 mil. $
= Big flop
[Fair Game premiered May 20 (Cannes) and runs 108 minutes. Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe were in talks to star in it at an earlier point. It was shot from March - June 2009 in Jordan, Egypt, Malaysia, New York and Washington, D.C.. It was shown in competition in Cannes. It opened #15 to a 651k $ first weekend, peaking in just 436 theaters in North America, where it grossed 9.5 mil.$ (39.4 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 3.4 mil. $ (14.1 %) and Australia with 2.4 mil. $ (10 %). Fair Game is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fair Game?